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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Chandra Levy: Confidential transcripts from hearings made public

WASHINGTON — Previously private court documents and
transcripts of hearings related to the case of murdered Washington intern
Chandra Levy will be made public, some immediately and others by the end of the
week.

That’s what a judge and government lawyers said during a
court hearing Monday, but it’s not clear how much new information the documents
may provide.

Lawyers have held a number of meetings in the case in recent
months, but the public and press have not always been able to listen to all
those meetings.

The documents’ release means that transcripts of all previously
private hearings should be available to the public, though they may include
redactions.

News organizations, including The Associated Press, have
objected to the secrecy, but the judge overseeing the case said it was
necessary for unspecified security reasons.

In general, lawyers have been discussing information that
could discredit a key witness who helped convict Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar
Guandique of Levy’s death. The witness is Guandique’s one-time cellmate,
Armando Morales.

Morales testified during Guandique’s 2010 trial that
Guandique had confided he was responsible for Levy’s death.

Defense attorneys have said they intend to request a new
trial based on information that calls Morales’ testimony into question. Defense
attorneys said Monday they would likely file that request with D.C. Superior
Court Judge Gerald Fisher in October or November, within 45 days of the next
hearing in the case, which is set for Sept. 26.

Levy’s 2001 disappearance became international news after
she was romantically linked with then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California. He
was questioned about her disappearance, but police no longer believe he was
involved.

The 24-year-old Levy’s body was found in Washington’s Rock Creek Park
in 2002 and Guandique, who had previously been convicted of attacking women in
the park, was ultimately charged.

Though Fisher ordered some of the post-trial hearing
documents be made available immediately, they were not available by the close
of business Monday.

It is not clear, however, how much new information the documents
may provide since recent hearings in the case have been more open.

For example, lawyers discussed openly Monday the information
that could discredit Morales. A lawyer for Guandique, Jonathan Anderson, said
there were numerous contradictions in Morales’ testimony.

He said, for example,
that Morales testified he’d never come forward to law enforcement before
approaching officials about Guandique’s case.

A trial transcript shows that when Morales was asked at
trial how he went about coming forward, he responded: “Well, I didn’t know how
to do it. As a matter of fact ... I was nervous about it. I don’t have no trust
in law enforcement, for reals.”

What defense attorneys were apparently not told until
recently, however, was that Morales told prosecutors that he had previously
talked with law enforcement officials.

Morales apparently discussed three
murders with those officials in addition to drug and weapon dealing that was
going on inside a Georgia prison where he was then incarcerated.